House Plants
How to Avoid Deadly Mistakes with Poisonous House Plants
You might think that choosing a house plant is easy. But you’re wrong. Some house plants are poisonous so you need to be careful about the plants you choose.
House plants can really brighten up your home. They can make any room in your house look better and they also suck carbon dioxide out of the air and in return they provide pure oxygen the stuff that we like to breathe.
But the problem is that some house plants can be poisonous or at least irritating or allergenic to both people and animals. So if you have young children or pets in your home you may want to review the varieties of plants in your home to see if they have the potential to be harmful to pets or children.
A Few Potentially Poisonous House Plants
I eat house plants for breakfast!!
- Amaryllis
- Angel’s Trumpet
- Angels’ wings
- Azalea
- Croton
- Crown-of-thorns
- Cyclamen
- Devil’s Backbone
- Dumb cane
- English Ivy
- Flamingo lily
- Hydrangea
- Jerusalem Cherry
- Kaffir Lily
- Mums
- Philodendron
- Poinsettia
- Swiss-cheese plant
Now, please keep in mind that this is far from a complete list. If there is any doubt, the responsible thing to do is assume that the plant you are looking at is poisonous. After all, it is better to be safe than sorry. So I urge you to research as much as possible about the plant that you are buying.
Now if you do have children and pets and you want to keep a house plant that is poisonous. You need to make sure that you put your plant in a place that a child or a pet cannot reach it. A high shelf will generally keep things out of reach of a child, but not a cat that loves to climb. A hanging planter or pot may make it tougher for a cat to reach. But please keep in mind that nothing is completely fool proof. Remember, it is better to be safe rather than sorry.
Giving Your House Plants What They Want
All plants require varying amounts of light, nutrients, water and warmth. You need to make sure that you are going to be able to give your house plant what it wants. So if you are deciding on what kind of house plant you want to buy, you should first look for one that is suited to the unique growing conditions inside of your home, before you consider aesthetics or which plant looks the nicest to you.
One of the things to look for in a house plant is light requirements. Most house plants that you buy at the store are selected and bred to enjoy growing with the lower levels of light found inside a home. That is why randomly potting an outdoors plant that needs a lot of sun and bringing it indoors seldom works. But if you are inclined to bring an outdoors plant indoors, make sure you take it out of your house from time to time so that it can catch all the rays that it needs.
Of course you are in full control of water when it comes to house plants, so water requirements are not such a big deal. If you buy a plant that needs a lot of water, you can water it more. If you get a plant that needs little water, water it less. Simple, but don’t forget to water.
Humidity is a factor that is sometimes overlooked. Sure you can adjust the humidity for your plants to a degree, but generally it is easier and more comfortable for you to choose a plant that appreciates the levels of humidity in your home. For example you could buy a plant that requires high humidity, but high humidity might feel uncomfortable for you when the weather gets hot. Furthermore adjusting humidity takes additional effort. If you need more humidity you may need to get a humidifier, while if you need less humidity for your plants you will need to get a dehumidifier.
Temperature is usually easy for most of us to control in our homes. Just turn the dial on our thermostats and presto, the temperature is adjusted according to our desires. But some plants like temperatures that we do not. So pick a plant that is suited to the temperature inside of your home. Fortunately, most house plants are able to adapt to the temperatures that we find comfortable. But there are a few exceptions when you are looking at some of the more exotic house plants or are trying to adapt an outdoor plant to live indoors.
Nutrient requirements of house plants are all over the map. Some plants grow quickly and need a lot of nitrogen, while other plants grow slowly and need little to no additional nitrogen. The nutritional requirements of different varieties of house plants are so variable that you have to do a little research on what your house plant needs. Fortunately there are a number of great resources on the internet. All you have to do is look.
So remember, when it comes to house plants be careful to find out if the variety that you have your heart set on is poisonous, so that you can take appropriate precautions, and also make sure that your home provides a suitable environment for the type of house plants that you are considering.
I normally don't eat house plants, but when I do, I prefer Catnip.